The word empathy became a buzzword last year in many education spaces. Empathy, as defined in the Webster dictionary, means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It was crucial last school year as many reponed for the first time to show empathy. We showed empathy towards teachers, students, and parents. The…
When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, it was a blow to many Americans. Several of my relatives who were alive and old enough to remember the event have shared with me what they were doing when they found out about King’s death and how they felt in the weeks and months after he…
Running for school board used to be a good way to get your feet wet in the event that you ever wanted to run for a “real” office. Seats, especially in smaller districts were typically relatively easy to win. Parents are notoriously inattentive to their children’s education so if you managed to snag one you…
This is the note. This is the note. Mr. Walters, my middle school choir teacher, took his love of music and teaching music seriously. He would say those words as he hit the piano key hard in hopes that we would eventually sing on key. He wanted us to perform with excellence, and he was…
Black people are significantly underrepresented in the education profession. Nationally, only about 7% of all public-school teachers are black. This means that a student has a significant chance of going through school without having one at all. I was lucky enough to go to a school where I had a few Black teachers. They weren’t always my…
Education remains one of the Black community’s most enduring values. It is sustained by the belief that freedom and education go hand in hand, that learning, and training are essential to economic quality and independence. ~ Marian Wright Edelman On Thursday, September 9, 2021, The Center for Black Educators Development will push a call to…
Like many educators, I thought this school year would be different than the last school year. While there are many more students in the building than the previous year, we still are still suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacts student learning. Many schools are four to five weeks into…
Before I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I knew I wanted to attend graduate school and at least obtain a master’s degree. One of my professors told me to get a teaching job first before investing more time in school. She also noted that I would be able to put into practice what I was…
States are seeing a resurgence of COVID-19 specifically the delta variant. Preliminary research indicates that this version of COVID-19 may be even more contagious, so it makes sense that as kids return to school cases would spike. Since returning to remote learning seems unlikely at this point, many people are questioning what to do. As…
The one constant about COVID-19 guidance is that it continues to change. The 2021-2022 school year began with school districts having to determine mask guidance since Governor Holcomb ended the mask mandate in Indiana, and it does not seem it will ever be reinstated. This left school districts to make the decision about masks keeping…